Tag Archives: toyota
Question of the Week: What nostalgic race car would you have driven?
Okay, so you’ve invented that time machine. Oddly, it can only serve one purpose — to put you in the cockpit of any classic Japanese motorsports machine. What nostalgic race car would you have driven? The JNC staff (except Kev) … Continue reading
EVENTS: AE86 Nights 5th Anniversary
SoCal may have its drawbacks, but there aren’t many places where you can put the call out for a hachiroku party and have over 100 cars show up. AE86 Nights has been doing this almost every Saturday night since April of 2007, … Continue reading
Question of the Week: What is the ugliest Japanese car?
Without even reading the title, you can probably guess what this week’s QotW is just by photo alone. What is the ugliest Japanese car? Sorry Kev, but I’m going to have to make an executive decision on this one. The … Continue reading
Toyota revamps development process to build bolder cars
More good news comes pouring from the C-level offices of our beloved automakers. The latest word from Japan is that Toyota has given its product development techniques a makeover so that they’ll result in less boring cars. It appears that … Continue reading
Shakotan: You know your car is low when…
Actually, the road-mopping tsurikawa is laying flat with the help of a carabiner, but the point is nevertheless made. This super slammed A40 Celica honestly couldn’t be any lower without that rear diffuser getting caught on a manhole cover, but is this … Continue reading
Neo-86 jumpstarts Japan’s waning car culture
Even up until the mid-2000s Japan was swarming with sleek, souped up performance machines that would give any JDM nut seizures of joy. A stroll down any major street was like tracking a pre-race establishing shot from Tokyo Drift. The … Continue reading
EVENTS: Eagle Rock Datsun-Nippon Swap Meet
Laugh all you want at our super-strict smog tests, but at the end of the day SoCal has at least one redeeming trait — enough nostalgics to hold a regular swap meet. Here’s what you missed from the recent Eagle … Continue reading
Question of the Week: What 1987 car is the next classic?
It’s 2012 and that means another new model year has made it into the ranks of “classic.” The rolling 25 year cutoff for vehicles eligible for historic license plates and classic car insurance is now at the year of Iran-Contra, … Continue reading
Friday Video: Gene Hackman, Toyota Celica racer
The most famous celebrity driver raced under Nissan’s white-red-blue colors, but their main rival had an Oscar-winner of their own flying the red-orange-yellow. Yes, Nissan may have had Newman, but Toyota had Hackman. After competing in the SCCA Formula Ford series … Continue reading
Ring in the first day of spring with nostalgics and sakura
Not only is today the first day of spring, but it’s also the opening of the 100th National Cherry Blossom Festival. A century ago the mayor of Tokyo gifted 3,000 sakura trees to our nation’s capital as a sign of … Continue reading
Friday Video: Aleks Efremov’s Cressida Wagon
MX72 love emanates round these parts like rays of a dying sun. But with supplies of Cressida wagons dwindling on American roads, we have few opportunities to show our affection. That’s why we were fortunate to find this awesomely retro video … Continue reading
Toyota’s awesome 2012 Geneva Motor Show display
What’s happening right now is the Geneva Motor Show, traditionally the unveiling venue for six-figure European exotics. To stand out ToMoCo had to do something special, and we’d say a pair of gleaming white RWD GT coupes fits the bill. … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 35,000-mile 1972 Toyota RT90 Corona Coupe
Ben says the RT90 Corona Coupe is ultra rare. However, I’ve found him about three to four examples floating on the lists of craig. This black-on-red ’72 is similar if not identical to the one owned by the Toyota USA … Continue reading
Aussie Rally Champion Hoons Rebuilt RA40 Celica Rally Car
Neal Bates is a four-time Australian Rally Championship winner, long associated with Celica GT-Fours and AWD Corollas that we didn’t get here in the states. Though retired, Bates spent the last 18 months building a replica RA40 Celica rally car inspired … Continue reading
Grand Touring: Nostalgic Nissans in Yamanashi Prefecture
In exploring the non-traditional Japan, you quickly learn to identify markers to indicate you are on the right track to discover something old and special — narrow roads lined with closed shutters, anything made of red brick, disconnected power meters, … Continue reading
Grand Touring: Forgotten steel tempts rust in Aichi Prefecture
A few weekends ago, we were again exploring some outlaying areas outside of Nagoya, and in the middle of the rice fields was a small mechanic who had amazed a sizable collection of varied old Japanese cars. As distressing as … Continue reading


